It’s funny to me how upset some people seem to be over Flickr’s recently implemented video hosting.  I really don’t get what the big deal is.  For one thing, this is only new news in implementation.  It’s been rumored that Flickr would be adding video soon for like a year now.  And people keep talking about how Flickr will turn into YouTube.  At least according the current upload constraints, Flickr will only take 90 second videos.  That’s not really going to compete with YouTube (or any of the other video-sharing sites).  And if the fear is that all the crazy people from YouTube (and judging by the general intelligence level of the comments, many of them are) will invade Flickr, which seems to have a higher sanity quotient, I think that’s unlikely.  People already using YouTube will probably keep doing so, and Flickr has a strong community that probably won’t break down because of adding video.  The first example of Flickr video I’ve seen is on MostlyLisa.com, and I’m highly impressed with the quality — I can see a good opportunity for brief videos that are really an extension of the personal photography niche that Flickr has always served (a perception backed up the announcement on Flickr’s blog).  If they stick with the 90-second limit, Flickr’s not really going after the hardcore video-sharing market.

But ultimately, if you don’t want to upload video, don’t. Voila! It’s not like Flickr’s going to require everyone to upload video to keep their account – in fact, only Pro accounts can use the feature, for now at least. Just because a service offers extra options doesn’t mean you have to use them. (One complaint is that the site has been slower/unavailable since the video feature went live, which seems to be true, but is probably a temporary server overload problem. It’ll get sorted out as people get over the newness and Flickr gets everything to scale properly).  So the point of this post?  Eh.  People amuse me.

Today is Jean-Paul Belmondo’s birthday, so I wanted to post a clip of him. Except Youtube wouldn’t cooperate in giving me Belmondo-focused clips that I actually like, and I didn’t have time to make my own. What is with the horrible quality of EVERY Breathless clip on Youtube, incidentally? Anyway, this is Anna Karina singing to Belmondo in Pierrot le fou. (And those of you who have paid attention to my Godard ramblings can probably figure out that it’s no great strain on me to post something Karina-focused. I’m pretty much in love with her. Sorry, Belmondo, for co-opting your birthday a bit.)

In the comments to my last Music Monday post, Abby compared Vampire Weekend to The Clash, and I thought, ooh, I should post some Clash.  And I’ve been wanting to do some classic stuff for a change, since I usually focus on more recent indie bands.  My current favorite song to play in Rock Band is The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which is the inspiration for throwing The Who in here.  The bands are also connected by the revolutionary quality of the lyrics, trying to figure out what to do and how to live in the post-’60s world.  I’ll admit immediately that I’m not hugely up on my classic rock (except the Beatles; after them I tend to lose track), so you’re pretty much just getting the music here.

The Who

The Who is historically earlier, so I’ll put them first.  These tracks are from Who’s Next, which I LOVE, and you should listen to all of it.  But I chose the first one, “Baba O’Riley” because it’s one of the few songs that I absolutely loved within the first ten seconds.  And then I almost did “Behind Blue Eyes” (and I could put it up if anyone wants), but I decided to do “I Don’t Even Know Myself” instead, for….no reason, really.  I just listened through the album, and picked it.  *shrug*

The Who – Baba O’Riley
The Who – I Don’t Even Know Myself

Who’s Next

Amazon CD

other albums

The Clash

The Clash is really punk rock, I guess, but it’s classic punk, so I defend the title of my post.  Both of these songs are from London Calling, the Clash’s 1979 release.  Which, okay, is the only one of their records I’ve heard.  Anyway.  On to the music.

The Clash – London Calling
The Clash – Clampdown

London Calling

Amazon MP3

Amazon CD

Other albums: MP3 / CD

Battlestar Galactica Season Four starts on Friday. Above is an 8-minute recap of the first three seasons, which is quick, to the point, amusingly snarky, and narrated by Katee Sackhoff. It’s worth watching even if you, like me, just watched all of S3 in three days and thus don’t really need the refresher, just because you get to hear things like “there are twelve human-esque Cylon models, some of which look like models” over a shot of Number Six, because, well, she does. And “xxx think they’re crazy, but it turns out they’re Cylons. Which is crazy.” However, if you have not watched BSG, DO NOT watch the above, because BSG is, like all the best shows, one that you really need to watch in order WITHOUT spoilers, so go back and rent (or buy) the DVDs and watch them all. It’s worth it. “So say we all.”